Shattered
by lady-warrioress
Summary: Yume leaves the Ark to discover answers to the Maximal's strange behavior. What she finds makes her question whether she can ever trust them again.
1. Chapter 1

Yumne slipped quietly out through the doors that guarded the entrance to the new Maximal base which was technically also the Autobot ship ARK. Much as Optimis Primal and his crew had wanted her to stay inside the place to avoid being harmed she had to get away from there, as the giant robots in stasis made her nervous. She kept on expecting them to wake up and step on her.

Of course she had had to be sneaky about leaving due to the fact that the Maximals had made it extremely clear they didn't want her to go outside. When she'd asked why, they simply said it was getting too dangerous for her to be out there even _with _a transformer there to guard her but she had a feeling there was more to it than that. Their body language and the way they didn't look at her fully made her believe all of her Maximal friends were hiding something from her.

She didn't know what it was but she was intent on finding out. The transformers were being highly secretive about whatever it was and, even though she never really asked them about many of the things they did in this war, she felt it was something they wouldn't tell her even if she had.

But why?

What could be so sensitive that they felt the need to shield her from it? Why had they been keeping a closer eye on her lately and had always thwarted her attempts to leave the cave? It had only been by sheer luck, and the fact Rattarp had fallen asleep watching her, that she'd managed to sneak out. The girl was pretty sure they would be out looking for her soon enough so she intended to accomplish her goal as quickly as possible and sneak back before any of them were the wiser.

Even so it wouldn't stop her from taking in the fresh air. The Ark was hot, stifling, and dull, and if she'd stayed in there much longer without a break, she would have gone crazy so this little mission of her was a two purposed deal.

"Let's keep moving, girl," she told herself, making her way into the jungle, her hands gripping the straps of her backpack. "let's find what they're hiding from you and head back."

She'd been walking for about a half hour when she began to feel like something was following her. The girl looked over her should but saw nobody. She looked ahead again and continued walking, figuring it was a harmless animal.

As the human girl continued deeper into the thickly forested area, she continued hearing strange sounds behind her but whenever she looked back she would see nothing. Even so she was beginning to feel nervous, her senses on full alert for trouble.

Suddenly she heard movement behind her and turned in time to see a silver figure charging toward her. Gasping in shock she backed up and tripped over her own feet, landing on the ground.

The silver creature stopped, looming over her. "What have we here, the Maximal's human pet?"

Yume looked up, finally getting a good look at the creature. It looked like a shiny metal skeleton of a dinosaur, not just any dinosaur a Velociraptor. A familiar raptor...

"Dinobot?" she asked, remembering the Maximal who'd been her bodyguard then her friend before his death.

"Hmm perceptive, aren't you?" the bot went from beast mode to robot mode then. Now she was sure it was Dinobot she knew that face anywhere even if it looked different.

No! This couldn't be true, Dinobot was dead, she'd seen his body! She'd been there for his funeral. "But... You- you're dead!"

"I believe you have me mistaken for another creature," the raptor said, leaning over her, his claws mere inches from her throat. "as you can see I am very much alive!"

Yume could not form a response as her brain was still attempting to process what she was seeing. This couldn't be Dinobot. No matter how much it looked like him it just couldn't' be.

But if it wasn't who was this? It had to be him, but why was he trying to kill her? Didn't he remember her? What had Megatron done to him?

"No!" she exclaimed, thinking he'd only lost his memory. "don't do this! This isn't who you are! Try to remember... it's me! Yume! The girl you were taking care of!"

For a moment this Dinobot paused, gritting his teeth in an odd fashion, as if he were trying to remember... or he just thought she was annoying and had no idea what she was talking about and all ehr shouting was ticking him off.

Suddenly he sneered his mouth showing off rows and rows of sharp teeth. "I believe you have me mistaken for someone else," he told her, his claws looming closer to her throat "Someone who is weak!"

He didn't remember her! "Dinobot please stop!" she looked like she was about to start crying.

"Your pleas mean nothing to me, human," he spat, disgusted. "Now be silent and die!"

"No!" she exclaimed, kicking out at him. Her foot contacted the circular image on his chest and he grunted, stepping back slightly.

Her blow hadn't really been all that powerful but it had taken him by surprise. She saw her small window of escape and scrambled to her feet, taking off into the trees.

"You will not escape me!" the transmatetal raptor roared, quickly shifting into beast mode and giving chase.

Yume could hear the Predacon's heavy footsteps echoing behind her as she ran. She didn't look back knowing full well that if she did she would probably trip over something specially since she was wearing high heels.

"I am right behind you," the dinobot's clone suddenly called out to her which did in fact make her turn her head. He was right. He _was_ right behind her and in robot mode. She gasped, How had he-

He swung at her with a claw and she screamed, jerking away and predictably tripping when her foot contacted an ill placed rock. She fell to the ground once more still screaming her head off before she scrambled onto her back and began to crawl backwards away from him, her eyes wide in fear.

Dinobot chuckled sadistically, coming toward her with his claws. 'Megatron was right about you, you're nothing but dead weight," he sneered. "I would be doing the Maximals a favor getting rid of you."

He was going to kill her!

Yume screamed again, putting her arms over her face in a futile attempt to protect herself from an oncoming blow. "No! Please!"

Just when she expected to get her head chopepd off she suddenly heard a voice call out. "How does it feel knowing you are about to kill a biologically inferior foe, creep?"

The girl heard dinobot snarl angrily, at the sound of the newcomer's voice, and shout "You!" in rage.

"But what else can I expect from an abomination with half of Rampage's spark?" the voice spoke again.

"You would know that all to well!" the raptor snarled. "and as with him your actions will be futile!"

The girl heard a roar and then the sound of metal hitting metal and grunting. She peeked through her arms, taking in the sight of the Dinobot clone charging at a blue and silver figure.

A familiar figure.

"Depth Charge!" she exclaimed surprised by the sight of the loner Maximal. "Watch out!"

The sting ray themed Maximal ignored her warning, his attention focused completely on the transmetal raptor. She saw their frames make contact and flinched, covering her face with her hands. She hoped he'd be able to take care of the awful clone. She heard another blow and a loud and angry shriek. Suddenly she was being lifted off the ground. Screaming in fear that the Dinobot clone had come for her she removed her hands from her eyes, getting a face full of angry red optics.

"Hold onto me!" their owner, Depth Charge, shouted. "and stop that infernal yelling!"

Before she could respond the Maximal changed into flight mode and she held on tightly to one of his fin-like wings as the two shot into the sky. She glanced over her shoulder, spotting the clone Dinobot below. He angrily roared at them, jumping into the air to take a swing at the duo as they flew away. She gasped and turned her head away, closing her eyes as the pair reached open air.

They got a pretty good distance away from the Predacon before Depth Charge landed on the ground due to damage from the parting shot Dinobot had given him when they'd escape. He landed on the ground and changed back into robot mode, holding the girl in his arms now. She opened her eyes just as he flinched when his frame sparked and he let out a stream of rather earth sounding profanity.

"Are you okay?" she asked him.

"I've had worse," he responded moodily. "Are you injured?"

"No, I'm fine," she replied. "He didn't hurt me thanks to you..."

"Right..." silence. Then. "What in the Nebula was a weak human like you doing wandering around out of the base without an escort anyway? Do you have a death wish or something?"

The girl looked away from him. She didn't know Depth Charge very well due to limited contact and what little exposure she had to him made her feel like a bug under a microscope. Once the two had made eye contact back at the ARK she could tell he didn't like her at all. It seemed like he thought she was nothing but dead weight, exactly what Dinobot's clone had told her previously. She wasn't sure she wanted to tell him why she'd left the base especially since she knew he didn't like her and would msot liekly judge what she said.

Plus he was angry and she hated when people were angry at her.

The human heard him let out an exasperated sigh. "Kid, you owe me an explanation, seeing as I saved your life when I could have let that thing terminate you."

Yume looked at the Maximal's face, her eyes widening in disbelief. "You wouldn't have done that, would you?!" she exclaimed.

Depth Charge said nothing for a long time and she got the impression he really _would_ have let her die if he'd really felt like it. Just as she suspected, he hated her.

"You would have!" she exclaimed. "What kind of Maximal are you?"

"Who are you to judge me?" he snapped at her. "I saved your life, didn't I?"

"Yes, but-"

"Then you should at least thank me for it!" he shot back obviously offended.

She fell silent for a moment then said. "..thank you..."

"Mmmgh..." he still looked cranky.

"I said thank you!" she snapped at him defensive. "and put me down!"

He seemed all too happy to do so but at least he didn't drop her. The Maximal set her down on a rock and she stared up at him. Why did these robots have to be so tall anyway? Not that they were as big as the ones in the Ark but they still towered over her, except for Rattrap that is. "Now why don't you tell me why you came out here?" he asked again, sounding annoyed.

Yume turned away from him. She didn't want to tell him. He'd just give her a lecture like everyone else.

"You owe me," he reminded her.

The girl looked at him, he was right after all. "I wanted to find something out."

"and what would that be?"

"Why everyone wouldn't allow me to leave the ARK," she started. "and to find out why they weren't explaining to me why they were doing so." she frowned at him. "I know it has something to do with why Cheetor looks so different now but I didn't know why..." she looked away. "and I found out..." now she turned around, looking at him accusingly. "Why didn't any of you tell me about Dinobot?!"

"Dinobot?" he asked, startled. "Why would you want to know about him...?" he suddenly remembered the other Maximals telling him about how Yume and the original had been close. "..oh."

"Why didn't they tell me about it?" she demanded, her eyes beginning to fill with tears. "What was so wrong with me knowing this?"

"Figures," she heard him mutter. "Primal's gone and did it again, like always." she sensed him turn his full attention on her. "Primal probably though he was protecting you."

"From what?" she cut him off, turning back to him. "From the fact that dinobot came back? That he's working for Megatron again? That he no longer remembers me?" tears streamed down her cheeks now. "did he think not telling me about it would prevent me from finding out eventually? Did he think I was too delicate to take the news?"

"Maybe," he couldn't give her a logical enough answer except the only he'd already given.

"Why?" she asked.

"Why what?"

"Why did this happen?" she asked him. "What caused this? Why is Dinobot working for Megatron when he told me over and over that he hated him? What caused this?"

Depth Charge didn't look at her which only made her more upset. "You know what happened, done you?"

Still he gave no answer. Instead he attempted to change the subject entirely. "We had better be heading back to the base... the other will be-"

"NO!" she shouted so loudly it startled the robot. His optics flashed rapidly as he was taken aback by the humans outburst

"You have to-"

"Not until you tell me what happened!" she exclaimed, her voice beginning to grow shrill. "I am tired of being lied to." she glared at him though her tears. "I thought maybe you'd be honest about this seeing as you hate being lied to about things, how you don't like mistakes Optimus made that causes incidents that hurt innocent people. That you-"

"Why you little-" he glared at her, looking like he wanted to hit her but he stopped himself befoe he did so. This was a human after all, any harm he gave her would most likely prove fatal. "You don't know what you're talking about."

"Don't I?" she challenged him. "I know that because Optimus and those other scientists didn't terminate Rampage a lot of people you cared about got killed and you intend to fix it all." her grey eyes darkened. "I am not as dumb as you believe nor am I Optimus' pet. I have my own mind and I can make my own decisions." she stared him down. "Now please, tell me what happened." then as if rememebring ehr manners. "Please."

For the longest time he said nothing as if he were processing what she'd said. She could tell he wasn't happy and she saw him clenching his fists in anger at her words. Finally he said. "Fine..." and he began to recount the events that led up to Dinobot's "resurrection".

Yume listened silently, asking questions here and there so he could clarify things for her. As the story progressed her expression changed from wide eyed disbelief to utter devastation. When he finished he heard her whisper. "That's why he didn't remember me..."

Depth Charge felt bad for her. "You were close to him, weren't you?" he asked her.

She looked at him, her eyes brimming with tears again. "He was my friend," she told him. "He protected me. I was afraid of him at first but I got over it as I got to know him. He was very important to me..." she wiped her eyes, trying to force herself not to cry about it but she couldn't stop herself. "He died a hero. This is all wrong. This is stepping all over his memory..." She burst into tears, covering her face with her hands.

Depth Charge stood there, watching her, unsure what to say to her. He'd never met the real Dinobot as the Maximal had died long before his ship had crashed on Earth, only having heard stories about the Predacon turned Maximal who'd lost his spark saving humanity from Megatron's insanity. The original Dinobot sounded like someone he might have gotten along with though.

When the girl suddenly leaned against the sting ray themed transformer, burying her face into his chest. This cuased him to come out of his thoughts. He looked down and awkwardly placed a hand on her back, saying nothing because nothing he said would help her feel better anyway. He realized then that he had no right to be so judgemental toward her. She'd lost people she cared deeply for just as he had. She had every right to be bitter.

When her tears subsided slightly he said to her. "We should be heading back, that clone is still out there and he is sure to be looking for us, especially you."

The girl looked up at him, her face soaked with tears. She said nothing to his words, simply nodding her head. He was right after all.

The sting ray themed Maximal helped her down off the rock and the two headed back to the Ark, neither saying anything more. Depth Charge looked down at the girl as they walked, realizing something had changed within her. Something she held dear had been destroyed and she would never be the same again.

Just like him...

_Poor kid._

When they reached the base Optimus Primal came out to greet them. "You found her!" he exclaimed seeing Depth Charge walking beside the girl. "Thank goodness, I was worried that-"

Suddenly Yume looked up at him. "That what?" the girl cut him off sharply. "That I wouldn't find out the reason for your lies?" she glared at him. "well I did! I found it! I found it and I know all about it!"

He looked at her startled. "Yume-"

"Don't talk to me!" she exclaimed. "Don't ever talk to me again!" then she turned and charged into the Ark."You're nothing but a filthy liar!"

Optimus watched her run inside, his expression full of worry. He turned to look back at Depth Charge.

"Looks like you did it again, Primal," the other Maximal responded, sarcasm loaded in his voice. "you sure have a knack for making a bad situation worse."

"What?"

"Don't you what me, Primal," Depth Charge snapped, pointing an accusing finger in his face. "She never would have gone out there if you had just told her the truth" then he too stepped into the base, ignoring the Maximal leader when he called after him.

Optimus watched him disappear behind the doors then looked toward the woods. Yume had found out about Dinobot and from how she and Depth Charge had reacted it had been the worst possible way. He looked back to the base as realization dawned on him.. "By the Matrix... what have I done?"

_A/N_

_Woohoohoo I finally wrote something. It's been so long since I've done a thing and I finally got this one finished. Well I hoped you enjoyed it. I had been thinking for awhile what might happen if our favorite scream queen met Dinobot's clone. Now you know. Hehehe I hope I got everyone in character. Please let me know what you thought thank you. I might add more to the story but only if you want me to._


	2. Chapter 2

Yume had gone into her room and locked the door behind her. One of the few luxuries she had within the new Maximal base was a private room with a door.

She threw herself onto her bed and buried her face against it. Her pillow muffled her sobs as she vented her feelings of hurt, frustration... and betrayal.

How could Optimus and everyone else keep this big secret from her? Didn't they realize she would find out eventually? They certainly didn't need to lie to her.

As her tears subsided, she rolled over onto her back and stared at the ceiling. The realization that she had been lied to gave way to something else. Now that the shock had worn off, she could focus more on the cold, hard fact that Dinobot had a clone. It as if it was him, yet not him. It didn't even have his spark.

It was an abomination of his memory, a thing that had half of a mutant monster's spark. According to Depth Charge, this thing was partially something that he hunted. It all seemed like a very sick and sadistic game that Megatron was playing. Maybe it was.

A soft rap on the door disrupted her thoughts. "Yume?" It was Cheetor's voice.

Yume scowled at the shut door. "Go away!" she shouted. She didn't want to talk to anyone right now. She was just as mad at him as she was everyone else.

She could barely hear him sigh through the closed door. "Look, Yume... I'm sorry. I heard about what happened. Can we talk?"

"I don't want to talk right now. Leave me alone!" Yume rolled onto her side to let her back face the door, determined not to speak again.

That turned out to be a mistake. She found herself facing the picture of Dinobot she kept on a table beside her bed, staring back at her. It was a picture of him in robot mode, during a rare moment when they had been alone in the old base together.

Somehow, she had not only managed to convince him to let her take his picture... she had even convinced him to smile for her. It was more like a smirk than a smile, but at least he wasn't glaring or showing any teeth.

The mere sight of it caused her to burst into tears all over again, and this time she didn't have her pillow ready to muffle her sobs.

"Yume!" Cheetor was trying to open the door now, but found it locked. He didn't know the access code because she kept changing it. Apparently Rhinox had shown her how to do that, for the sake of her privacy. "Aw, come on, Yume, I just wanna help. Please."

"J-just go away."

For a moment there was only silence. Then she heard someone fiddling around with the door from the other side. Shortly after that, the door slid open.

None other than Rattrap stood there, looking more than a little smug. "I still got it," he remarked proudly, but all traces of smugness faded when he saw Yume's tear-stained face. Cheetor stood just behind him, and his full attention was on Yume.

"Eh, sorry to barge in on ya," Rattrap said, suddenly looking a little sheepish. "But it was his idea," he jerked a thumb over his shoulder at Cheetor.

"Hey, you're the one who said this door was easy to crack, I didn't ask you to do it," Cheetor retorted.

"HEY!" Rattrap exclaimed when a big, thick pillow pelted his torso. Despite being a small, slim human, Yume had a good aim and a really good throw.

"JUST GET OUT," Yume yelled.

"Hey," a different voice said, "what is the trouble here?" None other than Silverbolt appeared then. The Fuzor looked from Yume's tear-stained face to Rattrap's sheepish stance to Cheetor's sympathetic expression, and clicked his tongue. "Can't you see the young lady wants to be alone? Both of you, shoo." He stepped between the mechs and the doorway, then spread a wing across the doorway in order to block everyone's view into the room.

"I think you should leave the girl alone" he scolded them. "Can't you see she is going through a tough time right now? Show some respect for the poor girl's feelings. Imagine how you would feel if you were in her place and everyone lied to you?" the fuzor gave them both a scolding look. "As I said before it was foolish to keep this from her and you should have known she would have found out eventually."

Rattrap grumbled something under his breath. He never liked being scolded, even if he was fond of the "bird-dog" as he often called the Fuzor.

"Yume," Cheetor called out, attempting to peer around the metal, feathered wing blocking his view; Silverbolt merely gave him a look and extended his feathers even more, closing any cracks that had existed. "I'm sorry," the cheetah transformer insisted. "I just want you to know that we're ALL sorry, even Big Bot."

"Yeah, Optimus just didn't want you to get hurt, Dreamgirl," Rattrap added.

"Then you guys shouldn't have lied to me!" Yume insisted from inside her room. Silverbolt said nothing on the matter, but the look on his face still spoke volumes.

"Come on, let's leave the kid alone," Rattrap finally said with a sigh. He should have known this wouldn't be a good idea anyway. Yume was bad enough to approach when it was that time of month; this was ten times worse.

Cheetor didn't look happy, but he didn't argue. "If you need anything, you know where to find me, Yume," he said, then began to walk away sadly.

Silverbolt gave a nod of satisfaction toward the backs of the retreating mechs, though he didn't lower his wings until they were out of sight. He then turned to look in on the girl. "Get some rest now, dear heart," he said, speaking to her in that big brother way he always had with her. "I'll check in on you later." Without waiting for a response, he closed the door in order to give her some privacy once again.

Yume found herself sitting alone in her room once again. The weirdest thing was that, now that she was completely alone again, she found that she didn't want to be. She began to feel bad for chasing them all away; they only wanted to help, to see that she was okay, but she had been so angry at them. But she had every right to be, and she was still mad that them.

But now… part of her wanted to hug Cheetor or have Silverbolt tell her that everything was going to be okay or… something. Anything. She really didn't want to be alone. She felt so lonely.

And who would she have gone to before when she got like this?

Her eyes strayed toward the picture that rested on her table once again. Dinobot.

Fresh, renewed tears began to stream down her face; she swiped at them with frustration. In a way, he had died to preserve her own future. He had saved the human race, after all, and… surely some of those primitive creatures were her own ancestors. But why did it have to happen this way? Why couldn't the other Maximals have gotten there fast enough to save him? It just wasn't fair!

And as if that wasn't bad enough… Megatron, the very Predacon who was responsible for all of this, had defiled Dinobot's memory in the worst way possible. She hadn't realized how much she hated him for that until now.

She finished wiping her eyes on her the corner of her blanket and stood, looking at the picture with determination. There had to be a way to bring him back. There just had to be.

"No," she grumbled to herself as she sat down on the edge of her bed, wrapping her arms around herself. "It wouldn't be him, it's just a dumb clone that Megatron made." She remembered the time when Dinobot told her about a clone that tried to infiltrate the Maximal base, and would have succeeded if Dinobot himself hadn't returned in the nick of time. She shuddered at the memory, especially when she recalled how he said that his clone had been "quite tasty". How exactly did one robot go about eating another one, anyway?

She shook her head, forcing herself to think about something else. She didn't want to think about that right now. She wasn't sure what she wanted to do, or what she could do.

After a moment, she got off of her bed and rushed over to the window, looking out. She remembered that night after his funeral, when she had gone outside and looked up at the sky. She could have sworn one of the stars had twinkled at her, though… she didn't know if it really meant anything. Maybe it was just her imagination.

She stared hard at the sky the best that she could. The window was so tiny with tinted glass; it didn't seem like a normal part of the ship, certainly not one made for giant robots. Then again, this room had been adapted by the Maximals for a human girl like herself to use… maybe they had made the window dark and tinted so that she couldn't see anything.

Yeah, so she couldn't see Dinobot's clone, perhaps. She scowled and stared even harder through the glass, more determined than ever to see something. Anything. The darkness of the glass was difficult to peer through, almost taunting her as a trace of moonlight tried to penetrate the darkened glass.

"Ugh!" She finally grunted in frustration and slammed her fist against the glass. It didn't harm the window at all, though it made her hand sting a little. It then occurred to her that they didn't want her breaking out, either… not that she could fit through that little window.

She decided to give up for the night and simply go to bed. She didn't want to talk to anyone that much anyway.

Sleep came pretty slowly and she tossed and turned for a great while before her mind eventually settled down and she fell into a restless slumber and began to dream, though her dreams were anything but sweet.

She was being chased by the clone in her dream. She couldn't outrun him as he was much faster than herself. He chased her though the forest and toward the cliff where the old Maximal base used to be.

She stopped at the cliff looking down at the water moving swiftly below her before looking back over her shoulder when she heard sinister laughter. The clone was behind her.

"How ironic, you are about to join that pathetic weakling in the PIT."

She backed away, whimpering. "Please," she begged. "Don't..."

But the clone ignored her please lunging toward her. She shrieked and lost her balance plummeting off the cliff and down to the water below.

Yume woke with a start finding herself staring into a pair of bright red optics. She screamed and reached for a weapon., her hand grasping the straps f her backpack. She swung with her weapon, cracking the when in the side of the head.

CRACK!

Yelling, earth profanity. She gasped, suddenly realizing who was before her. "Depth Charge?!" How had he gotten into her room? "what are you doing in here?"

The robot glared at her, holding the side of his head where she'd clocked him. She noticed a dent there. "What does it look like I'm doing?" he demanded.

She sat up, feeling less shocked and now more angry. "Breaking into my room and being creepy by watching me sleeping!"

"I was not watching you sleep!" he shot back, still rubbing the side of his head. "I heard you screaming and came in to make sure you were all right."

"You-" she stopped. He what? Since when did he care about her? "why? I'm fine. I was just having a nightmare."

"I sort of guessed that," he muttered, backing away from her. he looked like he didn't want to continue this conversation. "Forget it."

"I will not forget it!" she snapped at him, clearly in an awful mood. This was dumb. Why couldn't he have given her space like the others? Didn't he get the memo or didn't he care and felt the need to bother her. "I think you're lying."

"Now why would I lie about something like that?" he asked, his voice reflecting his already foul mood. "You think I can't have concern for someone because they happen to be a human?"

Yume didn't respond. He was right about that. Maybe she shouldn't be judging him, even if it seemed out of character for someone like him.

"How did you get in here?"

He looked at her, seemingly bothered hat she hadn't realized it. "Your birthday doesn't' make for a very good code."

Yume looked away from him embarrassed. So much for that code, she should have known it would be way too obvious.

"If you didn;t want anyone to bother you maybe you should have made a better attempt to keep people out," he informed her.

She looked at him impatiently. "Are you finished yet?" she demanded.

"I guess I am," he turned to go but not without another parting shot. "Just remember to use a better code next time."

Yume fell silent a moment, watching him open the door and start out. For some reason she felt the need to call after him. "Wait."

The Maximal paused and looked back at her. "Now what?"

"Can... can I talk t you?" she asked him carefully.

The question took him by surprise. "I thought you wanted to be alone."

"I..." she looked away, her eyes falling on the picture of Dinobot beside her bed. "I don't know what I want. Part of me is so angry about what they did and I don't want to ever look at their faces again but another part of me doesn't want to be alone right now. I'm sorry, I don't mean to bother you but." she glanced over at him. "I just feel like you'd be able to understand... I can't blame you for any of this. You're hardly around and we never really talked before anyway. The others... aside from Silverbolt' creepy spider girlfriend are just close friends of mine, I feel like they betrayed me."

He could sort of understand. He'd felt the same way about the High Council and Optimus Primal back on Cybertron after he'd brought Rampage into custody and none of them would even listen to what he'd said. She'd gotten her trust shattered just like he had.

Besides what did he have to lose by ignoring her request? He'd been friends with humans in the past, after all, though he wasn't sure he'd be able to say the same for this one. His first impression of her had been annoyance and disgust since she seemed to be so clingy and annoying and acted more like one of those clingy little humans who could do nothing for herself. Though now that he thought about it he could understand why. She had been ripped out of her own time and thrown in the midst of a war between robots and unlike the robots around her she could be hurt easily or even be killed.

He'd once demanded an explanation for this and nobody could really answer it, though Rhinox had theorized she might have gotten her hands on a time warping drive, though he couldn't show it to him as it had been lost when the Axalon had fallen into the river. So she was a human stuck in a war with robots with no way of returning home and even worse the one friend she'd been extremely close to was dead and now back but not the same as before.. He'd kept that in mind.

Now Depth Charge studied her for a moment and had to admit to himself, he felt sorry for her.

"All right..." he turned back to her and shut the door, changing the code to give them some privacy.

_A/N_

_Soo I updated thanks for the encouragement. I got a little help with this chapter so thank you friend. Also Depth Charge is the hardest bot to characterize mostly because I have no idea how he feels about organic life and or humans in general. I just know he's grumpy and stubborn. I'm gonna have to rewatch all the episode featuring Stingray batman again._


	3. Chapter 3

Yume and Depth Charge talked long into the night. The girl didn't seem all that sure what topic she really felt like pening up to to him about so he'd chosen to begin the conversation by asking her about her relationship with Dinobot, the real Dinobot.

"Well," she began, pausing briefly probe her memory. "You probably know some of it by now from talking to the others..." she picked up the picture of the former Predacon and looked at it sadly. "Umm... I first met him shortly after I wound up here by accident."

"When you found the time travel device," he stated knowing that much of the story.

"Yes, that thing..." she confirmed, frowning slightly. "I still don't know where it came from or why it was in the middle of the park like that, but now that I've lost it I have no way of finding out. even if I wanted to.."

"Hmm..."

"Anyway..." she went on forcing her mind to not focus too much on that part of the story. The device was gone and the last thing she wanted to do right now was lament on her way home was taken from her . "Honestly I didn't like Dinobot when I first came across him. He terrified me and I just wanted to be away from him, but then I was afraid of everyone here because I had never seen a transformer before..." she looked toward the window. "I had after all been taken out of my own time and place and sent here against my will."

"Yes, Optimus told me about it," he remarked.

"Yes, he probably did." she set the picture down. "I mean; you would be curious about me being here after all. "

He nodded.

"I'm getting off track," she didn't want to talk about that. She'd wanted to talk about Dinobot. She paused momentarily to collect her thoughts before continuing. "Optimus gave Dinobot the task of taking care of me."

"I bet that didn't sit well with either of you." Depth Charge put in accurately.

"No, it didn't," she confirmed with a nod. "Dinobot thought I was useless and thay bay-sitting was benieth him." she chuckled at that, knowing he was right. "I was terrified of him and didn't want to be near him and let them all know this rather loudly. Optimus didn't care about either of our feelings and told us it was his final decision. So he was forced to take care of me even though all that happened afterward was me causing him a lot of trouble."

Ah so she was admitting to being a problem. At least this girl wasn't the type to play the victim and claim all the bad things were because other people had caused it. "So what happened?"

"The Predacon captured us and well... after that we were forced to work together to get back here though it wasn't easy. The Predacons wanted to do who knwos what to me and Megatron was determined to get me no matter what." she paused a moment. "I think he wanted to use me to force the Maximals to give up or something?"

"Did he now?"

"Yeah.. but as you can see it didn't happen so forget I said anything about that."

The maximal sensed she didn't want to get into too much detail on that so he let it slide. No sense pressuring her besides it was apparent Megatron had given up on using the girl for that means. He decided to just bring the topic back to her and her former bodyguard and friend. "So I guess you and Dinobot bonded afterward, am I right?"

She nodded. "I thought of him as a big brother or a father figure after all that happened," Yume admitted. "He actually started to care about me not just as an annoying human whom he was forced to take care of but as a real friend." she pulled her knees up to her chest. "After that the whole ordeal we started to do stuff together, not all the time of course because he did have other duties besides me, but he did spend time with me when he wasn't out patrolling by his own choice. I didn't make him, I knew he liked to have his space after all. He even tried teaching me to defend myself."

"Didn't seem to do you at good out there earlier," the Maximal remarked pointedly.

She frowned at him but nodded instead of arguing. He was right and she knew it, no point getting offended. "That wasn't his fault, Depth Charge, it was mine. I wasn't expecting any of that." she felt tears coming to her eyes and she wiped at them. "How would you feel if someone you thought was dead for a long time showed up alive but didn't remember anything about you?"

The Maximal didn't say anything to that.

Yume went on, nearly finished with her story anyway. "We got so close, as I said, that when he died I was heartbroken." she could feel the tears forcing their way out even as she made an effort to hold them in. "I know he died as a hero and redeemed himself and I can understand that but it hurt so bad. When the Maximals told me I couldn't believe it at first until I saw the body. It was horrible. He was so damaged but he looked peaceful too. Like he died without any regrets. I didn't know until later that he'd died protecting humanity from Megatron who was trying to alter history to prevent the Autobots from ever winning the Great War." she wiped her eyes again though more tears were coming as she recounted the memories. "I couldn't... I just couldn't."

He saw she was breaking down before him and he felt sorry for her. The Maximal put out his hand and placed it on her shoulder. She looked up at him. "I'm sorry," Depth Charge said gently and without sarcasm. "I see why it's been so hard for you now."

She wiped her nose, looking up at his scarlet optics without a word. He actually looked like he meant it too. Maybe he wasn't the cold, uncaring jerk she thought he was.

"Maybe that's why they didn't tell you about the clone," he carefully said after a moment of silence.

"Maybe..." that could be true but it still upset her. She looked back at the picture of Dinobot. "They still shouldn't have done that. I mean they should have known I'd find out especially with how they acted after the incident with Cheetor. Did they think I wouldn't catch on? I mean they didn't let me out after that, not even with an escort. Not even Cheetor or Silverbotl would take me and they were the ones who always insisted I be allowed to get some air! Keeping me in here like a prisoner just made me want to know more."

"Which is why you sneaked out like you did and found out the hard way." his own tone turned bitter. "Optimus was never known for thinking things like that through properly."

"No, he didn't." she picked up the picture again and hugged it to herself. "and now I don't think I can ever trust him-any of them- ever again."

'I understand." he felt the same way. "But they are not the only ones to blame for this."

"Megatron." her tone turned icy at the reminder. If Megatron hadn't cloned her friend, nobody would have felt the need to lie to her. It was _his_ fault. "He's the reason for all of this. For my friends lying, for trampling all over Dinobot's memory. Why did he have to clone Dinobot of all people? Why didn't he just make someone else, someone I didn't have an attachment to? Why couldn't he just let Dinobot rest in peace?"

Depth Charge was bothered by her tone now. The girl was becoming more and more angry as she spoke and he sensed a deep and bitter hatred growing stronger the more she talked about Megatron. Something told him this might not end well if she allowed herself to focus on it for too long. "Calm down, kid," he spoke up. "I know you are angry but don't do anything stupid."

"Why not?" she snapped. "Megatron would _deserve _anything that happened to him after this! He deserves to _pay_ for what he did to Dinobot"

"He will get what's coming to him soon enough," he assured her. "You will just have to wait."

Yume's eyes flashed and he thought she might snap at him again but she suddenly seemed to think better of it and she wilted, nodding her head and she hugged the picture more tightly. "You're right," she agreed.

"I am," he told her gently. "believe me. He'll pay for all the slag he's done."

She nodded, suddenly looking tired. "I know..." she wiped her eyes and shifted, starting to lay down. "I'm tired."

He couldn't blame her for that. She was human after all and it was very late. Humans needed sleep, it was part of what kept them healthy. "I'll leave you to get some sleep then." he turned toward the door and punched in the code to let himself out. "I'll leave you alone now. Try to get some rest."

She was curled up under the blanket now. "I will and Depth Charge..." He paused and looked back at her. "Thank you."

The Maximal nodded and left without another word.

Yume lay in bed listening to his footsteps fade down the hall. When they were gone she sat up and threw back the blanket, jumping out of bed and grabbing her backpack. She then knelt down and leaned under her bed, lifting the floor to reveal a compartment under it. Inside was a gun, a blaster Dinobot had given her a long time ago to use to defend herself in case she ever got in trouble and he wasn't there to stop in. She'd never used it because guns scared her, until now. The girl grabbed it up without thinking about it and stuffed it into her backpack along with Dinobot's picture. She then rushed over to the door and punched in the code, waiting for it to open before she slipped into the hallway and toward the control room. There was something there she needed.

000

Somebody was up and doing something they shouldn't. Blackarachnia, the Predacon femme who had defected to the Maximals out of love for Silverbolt, could sense this without even know what was happening. She left her own quarters, in beast mode, and sneaked along the ceiling, spotting the human girl dart quietly down the hall. "Hmm, now what is she doing this time of night?" she asked herself before following. "Something tells me she's not going to do star gazing."

The Predacon traitor followed the girl stealthily through the halls and then to where the remains of the command center for the _Axalon_ was set up. The girl walked over to the computers and switched one on, looking at the screen for a long time without doing anything.

Blackatachnia spotted a map flash onto the screen for a moment before the image blinked out and the girl reached down and grabbed something out of the disk slot. She then pocketed it and dashed toward the exit.

When the girl was gone the spider changed into robot mode and went to the computer, turning it on and, after a moment of hacking, what the girl had been doing popped up before her. She could see a map of the area. It detailed where the _Ark_ was located and... where the Predacon base was.

"Hmmm." The femme turned toward the exit, frowning to herself. No way that girl would do something that stupid. But just incase...

Blackarachnia changed back into beast mode and followed.

0000

Cheetor hadn't slept well that night and by sunup he figured he'd give up on recharging and see if Yume was feeling up to talking. He knew she was angry about being lied to but maybe now that she'd gotten some sleep, she'd be willing to listen. She deserved an explanation after all.

He stood outside her door and knocked gently on it. "Umm Yume, you awake?" he called out. "Can we talk?"

No response.

The cheetah Maximal stared at the door, wondering if she were still sleeping or just ignoring him. He knew she was probably still mad but he had to try. Cheetor really wanted them to stay friends. He knocked again, hoping to get an answer. "Yume, please open the door, I want to talk to you." he paused and there was still silence. Well so much for that. He would just have to talk through the door and hope she listened. "Look, I'm sorry about Dinobot. I know we shouldn't have kept the truth from you but we just didn't want to hurt you. I know how close you two were and all and well Optimus just thought telling you would do more harm than good. I guess he was wrong but now that you know I would like to try to make it up to you in some way..." he placed his hand on the door. "Please. Just give me a chance."

"Eh, you'll never get her to listen to you by groveling like that, pussy cat," Rattrap said coming up behind him. "You gotta get her attention a better way."

"Like hacking her bedroom code?" Cheetor demanded, turning his attention on the smaller transformer. "What makes you think that will work when it didn't last night? She just got more angry at us."

"Yeah maybe but that was last night," the older Maximal turned to the door to punch in random codes. "I mean come on, she can't still be steaming after a good night's sleep. She hardly ever stays mad for long."

"Maybe normally," Cheetor agreed. "but you know this is different." he pointed out. "We lied to her about Dinobot I don't really think she'd be over something like that in a night."

"Then why are ya here groveling?" Rattrap asked him raising an eyeridge.

"I had to _try_." he defended himself.

"Which is exactly what we're doing." he heard a beep and smirked. "Got it."

The two waited for the door to open and then stood there in shock when they realized the room was empty.

"Hey, where did she go?" Rattrap asked putting his hands on his hips and cocking his head.

Cheetor was about to shake his head and respond that he didn't know but then noticed something. He stepped into the room and knelt down by the girl's bed. Rattrap watched him curiously. "What are ya looking at, kitty cat?"

Cheetor looked at him. "Her backpack is gone and-" he moved away Yume's blanket to expose the hole in the floor. "So is the rifle Dinobot gave her."

"Oh man," Rattarp exclaimed, the reason for her empty room suddenly clicking. "She wouldn't, would she?"

Cheetor was up and moving quickly. "We'd better tell Optimus." he started down the hall.

"Wait wait wait!" Rattarp exclaimed, blocking his way. "We can't let the big banana know she's gone."

"Why not?" Cheetor questioned.

"Do you think she'd want him to know that after what happened yesterday?" the smaller Maximal persisted. He poked Cheetor in the chest punctuating his next statement. "If she found out we told the big leader she flew the coop she'd never speak to us again."

"But-" the young transformer started to argue.

"No bust," Rattrap cut him off. "We should get moving." he grabbed Cheetors' arm and started down the hall with him. "Come on we have a girl to find before you know who finds her."

_A/N_

_Yes this chapter has a little exposition in it recapping a bit from my Bodyguard story. If you haven't read bBdyguard and you're reading this fic I would suggest you find and read Bodyguard to learn more of the relationship between Yume and Dinobot._

_Also I didn't realize until I started work on this fic how much a great buttface Megatron is and how much of a screw you it was for him to poop all over Dinobot's memory by bringing him back as an evil clone. Makes me really mad.._

_I now have some idea on what I'm going to do. This should be interesting, hehehe. and look! I finally got the motivation to continue something at least for now. Let me know how you're enjoying things so far, thanks. :3_


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